Grim Views

((This was written to introduce Yemana to the Twisting Nether Gazette - I'll be copying her stuff over here eventually.))

No one knew how long the old wreck had been there. It sat, broken and battered, on the shore of the Great Sea, canvas sails tattered and flapping in the wind, barnacles and green tendrils clinging to its rotting hull. When the fog came in, it could barely be discerned in the mists - a ghost ship, once bound for someplace exotic, now trapped between shore and sea, between the past and future, between the spirit world where the dead walked and -

The great bear shook its shaggy head ruefully. The dead walk here as well, it thought to itself. Hidden in the bushes for the better part of an hour, the bruin had lain still, watching the waves crash on the ship and against the shore, waiting for any living thing that might come along. The gloom of Silverpine did not agree with the creature, and it was taking pains to avoid any confrontation with the damned beings that haunted the forest. Finally, satisfied that it would not be disturbed, the bear rumbled to its feet and cautiously made its way out onto the shore.

Damp fog clung to shaggy brown fur, and the bear shivered as the thickness of the sea air began to leech the warmth from its body. Opening a mouth lined with sharp teeth, it tasted the salt spray, marveling at its strangeness and at the same time cursing the wretched long-ear who had sent it across the world to complete the task he had laid upon it. A test of endurance, of courage, the long-ear had said. The bear looked out over the rolling ocean. That courage would have to come from somewhere, it thought.

After a final look around to ensure that it was alone, the bear turned its thoughts inward. Reaching down through its great paws, it touched the breast of the Earthmother and felt the pulse that ran through Her, eternal and unchanging. As the power resonated through the creature's body, the lines that formed the massive bulk began to blur and shift. The body slimmed and elongated, front paws gave way to fingers and the brown fur darkened to dusty black. The shift almost completed, it rose up on its back paws that quickly changed to hooves and shook slightly to re-settle the leather garments that appeared on its body. The eyes, however, remained the same - softest black, guarded, as ever.

Yemana looked around her once again. She felt naked and vulnerable in her true form, doubly so in this strange land where the sun never seemed to shine. The druid knelt down on the rocky shore, placing her hands flat on the ground. "Earthmother give me strength," she murmured in prayer, closing her eyes for a brief moment before opening them again and gazing out over the churning sea. Yemana withdrew a large square of leather from one of her bags before laying them off to one side at the base of a large rock. With thick fingers that were numb from the cold and damp, she unlaced her leather vest and breeches, removing them and folding them into a neat pile. She laid her boots and belt on top of these before picking up the scrap of leather and rising to her feet. Looking over her shoulder to ensure that she truly was alone, the druid walked heavily down the beach towards the breaking waves.

I will sink like a stone, I will never breathe again.

At the first touch of the salt water, it took all her effort not to shift back into her other form and bolt for the security of the trees. Clenching her teeth, Yemana waded out further, the ocean swirling around her hooves and pulling at her as the waves retreated. It soaked into her fur, creeped up her thighs, wrapped its liquid arms around her waist and threatened to pull off balance. It gripped her shoulders, pulling her down, down...she had to go on. With a final look up through the fog, at the hide-and-seek sun that never seemed to shine, she drew a deep breath before she took her final step into the sea and the water closed over her head.

Earthmother give me strength...

Darkness.

Silt that had been kicked up by her hooves made it next to impossible to see more than a few feet in the murky water, but even after Yemana's thickly muscled legs kicked off from the bottom and propelled her down towards the seabed, she found that the waters of the Great Sea in Silverpine were choked with shadows and darkness even when no life disturbed them. The shu'halo felt the saltwater trying to buoy her, which was somewhat reassuring - but only a little. She began to feel the fatigue in her limbs as she pulled herself deeper, felt the stinging in her eyes from the salt, felt the cold seeping further into her body.

Suddenly, there was no more land.

Yemana became aware of a great vastness all around her, an emptiness that was so full of weight that she felt it would crush her, and she reached down to touch the ever-comforting earth that she had been skimming only to discover that it was no longer there. Her reaching hand grasped only water as she hung suspended in the middle of the vast ocean, the liquid embrace disorienting her - she turned in what she thought was the direction from which she had come and swam, only to discover that she was wrong, there was nothing there, nothing to anchor her, nothing to which she could hold. She was lost.

And she was drowning. She could feel her lungs beginning to burn with the breath they had been holding for too long. The druid kicked hard in the direction she thought was the surface, but caught a tiny flicker out of the corner of her eye.

Bubbles.

Dancing up towards the surface they came, now many, now few. There was a fissure, she had been told, down on the ocean floor...with it, she could renew her breath and keep searching. Yemana looked up, straining for any hint of light that could penetrate the murky gloom, but saw none. How far down was she?

If I reach the surface, I will never come back down, never, never.

She shook her head in disgust to clear it. These were weak words, weak thoughts. The blood of the Runetotem flowed in her veins, and the spirit of the wind was in her soul. And the wind always finds a way. Yemana smiled to herself as she remembered the words of her mother from so long ago. She was not young, but her mother's wisdom she remembered.

"Thank you, Mother."

"Always, Little Wind."

Turning toward the source of the bubbles, Yemana kicked her legs behind her as she dove deeper, towards the bottom of the sea.

Earthmother, guide my steps...

The source of the bubbles slowly came into view - sure enough, there was a crack in the seabed which was allowing air to escape. Her lungs were bursting by the time she reached the bottom; she had to work swiftly. Yemana gathered the edges of the square of leather together in her hands and held the opening over the bubbles that were drifting lazily up toward the surface. The moments seemed to drag by, but slowly, slowly, her muscles began to register the upward pull of the air-filled bag clutched in her hands. When she was certain it was full enough, she snatched it to her snout and inhaled deeply.

The air tasted like metal and rock, the very bones of the Mother. It was not much, but it was enough to keep her alive while she looked for the chest that was said to contain the pendant. The druid's vision was blurred by the murky water and the sting of the salt. Stretching one hand out in front of her, the other clutching what was left of her air supply, she began feeling along the ocean floor for what she sought.

Yemana was fortunate. Within moments, her grasping hand collided with a metal object partially buried in the sand and rocks. Large fingers pried and dug around the edges and she was able to lift it free. As she opened it, an explosion of bubbles escaped but left behind the thing she had been sent across the world to find - the other half of the pendant. The shu'halo wasted no time - as soon as she had the necklace clutched in her hand, she dropped the box and pushed off from the bottom, kicking hard for the surface.

She was not fast enough. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a sinuous shape flicker in the murky blackness and recoiled automatically, but in seconds it was upon her. She opened her mouth to call down the fire of Mu'sha, but in her panic she sucked water into her lungs and began to choke. Her intent was enough, though - in the flash of the spell, she could see all around her - the eternity of the Great Sea, the seabed far below her, the reflective glimmers of light above her - and the monster that twisted in a moment of agony before it came at her with teeth sharper than swords. Its snout was wide and its tail propelled it forward - she threw up an arm to protect her face and it was caught in the creature's gaping maw. Yemana felt her flesh tear and released the leather bag she still had clutched in her other hand to strike at the creature's tiny eye with a closed fist. The water was still invading her lungs; she concentrated, grasping for the power which she had to struggle to find, being suspended so far above the body of the Mother. As it pulsed through her, snaking roots shot up from the seabed and tangled themselves around the body of the fish-monster as it thrashed and churned the waters around it in its flailings. Yemana wrenched her arm free of the creature and brought her great hoof crashing down upon its head as she strained and kicked hard for the top.

It had begun to rain when she finally broke the surface, choking and sputtering, coughing up the seawater from her lungs. She was able to glimpse the shore in the distance - she was far out, too far...she floundered and pulled hard for the shore, convinced that the fish-monster would break free from its prison, expecting to feel the teeth close on her legs at any moment...but before her fears came to pass, she felt the solid Earth under her hooves and staggered the last few feet onto the shore, collapsing from exhaustion among the lapping waves and taking deep, gulping breaths of the blessed, blessed air of Silverpine.

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Hours later, the great bear awoke from her shelter among the roots of a twisted, fallen tree. The eerie howls still echoed through the forest, but she paid them no heed. Judging by the faint light that glistened off the wet grass and damp leaves, she judged An'she had only recently gone to rest beneath the Earth; so, too, would she rest. Curling deeper into herself, her rumbling breath steaming in the chilly evening air, the bear slept once again.

She would travel back to Moonglade on the morrow.